Statistics & Facts

Sexual Assault in the United States

One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives (a)
In the U.S., one in three women and one in six men experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime (o)
51.1% of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance (a)
52.4% of male victims report being raped by an acquaintance and 15.1% by a stranger (a)
Almost half (49.5%) of multiracial women and over 45% of American Indian/Alaska Native women were subjected to some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime (o)
91% of victims of rape and sexual assault are female, and nine percent are male (m)
In eight out of 10 cases of rape, the victim knew the perpetrator (j)
Eight percent of rapes occur while the victim is at work (c)

Cost & Impact of Sexual Assault

The lifetime cost of rape per victim is $122,461 (n)
Annually, rape costs the U.S. more than any other crime ($127 billion), followed by assault ($93 billion), murder ($71 billion), and drunk driving, including fatalities ($61 billion) (j)
81% of women and 35% of men report significant short- or long-term impacts such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (a)
Health care is 16% higher for women who were sexually abused as children and 36% higher for women who were physically and sexually abused as children (k)

Child Sexual Abuse

One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old (d)
30% of women were between the ages of 11 and 17 at the time of their first completed rape (a)
12.3% of women were age 10 or younger at the time of their first completed rape victimization (a)
27.8% of men were age 10 or younger at the time of their first completed rape victimization (a)
More than one third of women who report being raped before age 18 also experience rape as an adult (a)
96% of people who sexually abuse children are male, and 76.8% of people who sexually abuse children are adults (l)
34% of people who sexually abuse a child are family members of the child (l)
It is estimated that 325,000 children per year are currently at risk of becoming victims of commercial child sexual exploitation (k)
The average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12-14 years old, and the average age at which boys first become victims of prostitution is 11-13 years old (k)
Only 12% of child sexual abuse is ever reported to the authorities (f)

Campus Sexual Assault

20% - 25% of college women and 15% of college men are victims of forced sex during their time in college (b)
A 2002 study revealed that 63.3% of men at one university who self-reported acts qualifying as rape or attempted rape admitted to committing repeat rapes (h)
More than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault (b)
27% of college women have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact (e)
Nearly two thirds of college students experience sexual harassment (p)

Crime Reports

Rape is the most under-reported crime; 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police (m)
The prevalence of false reporting is low — between 2% and 10%. For example, a study of eight U.S. communities, which included 2,059 cases of sexual assault, found a 7.1% rate of false reports (i). A study of 136 sexual assault cases in Boston found a 5.9% rate of false reports (h). Researchers studied 812 reports of sexual assault from 2000-2003 and found a 2.1% rate of false reports (g).

References

(a) Black, M. C., Basile, K. C., Breiding, M. J., Smith, S .G., Walters, M. L., Merrick, M. T., Stevens, M. R. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 summary report. Retrieved from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf

(b) Cullen, F., Fisher, B., & Turner, M., The sexual victimization of college women (NCJ 182369). (2000). Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf

(c) Duhart, D. (2001). Violence in the Workplace, 1993-99. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Available at https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vw99.pdf

(d) Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G., Lewis, I. A., & Smith, C. (1990). Sexual abuse in a national survey of adult men and women: Prevalence, characteristics and risk factors. Child Abuse & Neglect 14, 19-28. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(90)90077-7

(e) Gross, A. M., Winslett, A., Roberts, M., & Gohm, C. L. (2006). An Examination of Sexual Violence Against College Women. Violence Against Women, 12, 288-300. doi: 10.1177/1077801205277358

(f) Hanson, R. F., Resnick, H. S., Saunders, B. E., Kilpatrick, D. G., & Best, C. (1999). Factors related to the reporting of childhood rape. Child Abuse and Neglect, 23(6), 559–569.

(g) Heenan, M., & Murray, S. (2006). Study of reported rapes in Victoria 2000-2003: Summary research report. Retrieved from the State of Victoria (Australia), Department of Human Services: http://mams.rmit.edu.au/igzd08ddxtpwz.pdf

(h) Lisak, D., Gardinier, L., Nicksa, S. C., & Cote, A. M. (2010). False allegations of sexual assault: An analysis of ten years of reported cases. Violence Against Women, 16, 1318-1334. doi:10.1177/1077801210387747

(i) Lonsway, K. A., Archambault, J., & Lisak, D. (2009). False reports: Moving beyond the issue to successfully investigate and prosecute non-stranger sexual assault. Retrieved from: https://www.nsvrc.org/publications/articles/false-reports-moving-beyond-issue-successfully-investigate-and-prosecute-non-s

(j) Miller, T. R., Cohen, M. A., & Wiersema, B. (1996). Victim costs and consequences: A new look (NCJ 155282). Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/victcost.pdf

(k) National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. (2012). National Plan to Prevent the Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children. Retrieved from http://www.preventtogether.org/Resources/Documents/NationalPlan2012FINAL.pdf

(l) National Sexual Violence Resource Center. (2011). Child sexual abuse prevention: Overview. Retrieved from https://www.nsvrc.org/publications/child-sexual-abuse-prevention-overview

(m) Rennison, C. M. (2002). Rape and sexual assault: Reporting to police and medical attention, 1992-2000 [NCJ 194530]. Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics: https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsarp00.pdf

(n) Peterson, C., DeGue, S., Florence, C., & Lokey, C. N. (2017). Lifetime economic burden of rape among U.S. adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Advanced online publication. doi:10.1016/j. amepre.2016.11.014

(o) Smith, S. G., Chen, J., Basile, K. C., Gilbert, L. K., Merrick, M. T., Patel, N., … Jain, A. (2017). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010-2012 state report. Retrieved from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf

(p) Hill, C., & Silva, E. (2005). Drawing the line: Sexual harassment on campus. Retrieved from the American Association of University Women: http://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/drawing-the-line-sexual-harassment-on-campus.pdfTopic Research